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#1
03-08-2005, 11:58 PM
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NEWSFLASH ! F40 in the rain!
Phoenix has had more rain this year than the past five combined.
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. There were a few puffy white clouds moving lazily accross the sky. Finally! A weekend without rain! What a perfect opportunity to exercise the F40 which has been garage-bound since the begining of the year. It's been hooked up to the trusty Battery Tender, so it fired up without even a hiccup. I backed it out slowly and turned around to head into the wild blue yonder north of Scottsdale. Scottsdale Road is a straight shot north for about twenty miles with some real roller coaster undulations from the natural desert terrain. I should have been aware that some of the puffy white clouds had a gray edge toward the south and the wind was coming from there. Twenty minutes into the drive, close to Lone Mountain road I saw the first spit of moisture hit the windshield. "Must be a small bug" I thought, but within seconds the rain was pelting down. I quickly detoured onto Lone Mountain and headed to Whisper Rock golf club where a cheese omelet was waiting along with some strong coffee and a comfortable place to wait out the small squall. The omelet was good, the coffee strong but the squall was a real thunderstorm which didn't go away. There was nothing for it but to venture out into the water. The parking lot was drenched with lots of puddles. I fired up the car and edged out of my space. I applied the throttle and started a lazy turn toward the exit. The rear wheels hit a puddle and the back end tried mightily to break away but years of drivers ed at various Ferrari and Porsche club meets kept it straight. Once I got going going, I nervously expected the rear end to slip and slide around but as the tires warmed the F40 hunkered down and and felt as solid as granite, even going though deep puddles that collected in the valleys of the road's undualtions. I was careful not to touch the brakes in the water and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the car felt in these dreadful conditions. I guess the message is that Ferraris of any kind are cars first and foremost and a little inclement weather doesn't bother them at all. The F40 looked spectacular with water beading on it when I finally got it back home. I think I'm going to hose it down every once in a while just to get that image back again. 
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#3
03-09-2005, 12:45 AM
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Awesome stuff Alex... An F40 in the rain, it doesn't get much better than that!
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#4
03-09-2005, 04:18 AM
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I've had mine in a bloody down pour on the way to Brands Hatch closely followed by a friend in his M3.
The rooster tail at 120mph was impressive, I felt sorry for anyone I passed because they would have been engulfed in a tornado of water. No problems with the car, didn't even mist up, unless I dropeed below 40mph!. Drove all day at the the track and then drove home. Took me a whole day to clean though. 
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#7
03-09-2005, 07:43 AM
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Quote:
Regards, Matthew
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#8
03-09-2005, 10:33 AM
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Slicks in the rain!
During the summer months I run slicks on my F40 on the street, usually not an issue. One day after a long cruise, I noticed those clouds you were mentioning, I was 40 miles from the house and here it came! An F40, on slicks, in the rain, on the interstate, well lets just say like you, I am glad I went to Skip Barber a few times!
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